I was very interested in a D&D mmo when this game first came out BUT it totally sucked at the beginning.  It didn't have many of the things I expected, and I feel as though they chose a bad D&D model and didn't even follow it well enough.  All in all, the game was a huge disappointment for me initially, and it sucked so bad that I actually thought very poorly of turbine for producing such garbage.

Very few times do I honestly think that I could do a better job of making a game myself, but in this case I absolutely felt like I could have.  The mana/hp system was bunk, the spells were lame, the races were not great, and the game was not very group friendly (which is a deal breaker for D&D).

After such a huge rant, saying how horrible this game is, I must put in the bright side.  I have NEVER seen a game improve so much after it's first year as this game has.  WOW has come close, but it started pretty strong.  This game is something that I have tried out 3 times since launch and each time it gets TOUGHER to say no to playing.

In fact, if any of my friends played this game at all, I would probably be subbing to it just because the grouping aspect has gotten good enough that I could probably enjoy myself FINALLY.

So In summary this game went from a F--- to about a C when most games degrade (see TR).  Keep up the good work, and I may buy the next big expansion or sequal.

Just out of curiosity, do you play caster classes?  From my experience, caster classes start out pretty boring, in DDO, and gradually get fun to play later on.  The melee classes are DDO's specialty - there is no MMORPG that I can think of that can even compare to combat as a melee class in DDO.

Personally, I enjoyed the game right when it came out for just that reason.  Most of my characters really enjoy getting sprayed with the blood of their enemies, and melee combat in other games typically sucks to the point that I can't stand to play them (WoW is one of the worst - I have tried to like it three times, played to level 25ish each time, and I just can't understand why anyone would play that game).

If you do usually play a caster, try a barbarian, next time.  Get in mouselook mode (default key is T), grab a two-handed weapon, run into the middle of a huge group of kobolds, and watch them splatter across the floor.

Barbarians start out the most fun, but really aren't tough to play because they don't get a whole lot of feats to play around with.  The other melee classes all start out decently fun, too, but a barbarian can probably solo the entire harbor with practically no issues.  Other classes basically have to catch up to the barbarians - which seems about right, to me.  Fighters gradually catch up with their insane amount of feats, monks catch up by dealing extra damage with special attacks and getting other abilities, pallies catch up with spells, and casters catch up by increasing the number of spells they can cast.  Granted, everyone has their opinions as to how well the classes are balanced, but I don't like how the current stance is toward builds, so I don't pay attention to them much.

Personally, I think DDO started out around a B- or C+ (because of lack of content), but is now the best PvE-oriented game on the market.  The community is great, the combat is fun, character building can be as complex or simple as you want it to be, and the game has a gritty feel that most other games don't get to enjoy.

Originally posted by Valczir

 

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Most of my characters really enjoy getting sprayed with the blood of their enemies,...

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Barbarians start out the most fun, but really aren't tough to play because they don't get a whole lot of feats to play around with.  The other melee classes all start out decently fun, too, but a barbarian can probably solo the entire harbor with practically no issues.  Other classes basically have to catch up to the barbarians - which seems about right, to me.

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Too much misinformation here to pass on.

1) There is no blood spray in DDO.

2) Barbarians get lots of feats at first level and lots more as they level.  Fast Movement, Trap Sense, Uncanny Dodge, Rage, Greater Rage, Indomitable Will, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Damage Reduction.  They just aren't optional feats.

3) AC works much more efficiently at low levels (especially if you are a new player) than DPS, and Barbarians probably have one of the lowest average ACs of any class, on par with Wizards and Sorcerors.

4) Barbarians start out very mediocre, but get better through their overpowered enhancements at higher levels.  Even so, they are not easy to play well at any level, and are very gear-dependent to be more than a  mana sponge.

Right now, a Monk or Paladin is the most likely to contribute to the party just by standing near it.  Their excellent defensive abilities make them highly suited for new players, as its easier to stay out of trouble and not be a burden on the group.

Originally posted by Raithe-Nor

Originally posted by Valczir

 

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Most of my characters really enjoy getting sprayed with the blood of their enemies,...

<snip>

Barbarians start out the most fun, but really aren't tough to play because they don't get a whole lot of feats to play around with.  The other melee classes all start out decently fun, too, but a barbarian can probably solo the entire harbor with practically no issues.  Other classes basically have to catch up to the barbarians - which seems about right, to me.

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Too much misinformation here to pass on.

1) There is no blood spray in DDO.

2) Barbarians get lots of feats at first level and lots more as they level.  Fast Movement, Trap Sense, Uncanny Dodge, Rage, Greater Rage, Indomitable Will, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Damage Reduction.  They just aren't optional feats.

3) AC works much more efficiently at low levels (especially if you are a new player) than DPS, and Barbarians probably have one of the lowest average ACs of any class, on par with Wizards and Sorcerors.

4) Barbarians start out very mediocre, but get better through their overpowered enhancements at higher levels.  Even so, they are not easy to play well at any level, and are very gear-dependent to be more than a  mana sponge.

Right now, a Monk or Paladin is the most likely to contribute to the party just by standing near it.  Their excellent defensive abilities make them highly suited for new players, as its easier to stay out of trouble and not be a burden on the group.

O.o

1) I never said there was.  I said that my characters liked being sprayed by blood.  Just because there's no blood in the game doesn't mean there wouldn't be blood in the world.  Imagination.

2) Yes, barbarians get quite a few feats that they don't get to choose.  I was saying that barbarians are easy to play because they are harder to screw up, partly because you don't get to choose those feats.  Also, if you run into the midst of battle and just swing your sword, you'll be decently effective, so barbarians are not hard to play.  They are more difficult to turn into insane killing machines, but they're very easy to make effective.

3) Depends on the barbarian.  Some can have decent AC.  This is DDO - any class can do practically anything, if it's built right.  Barbarians are not as easy to customize, but they can be made to have a decent AC, if you build them for it.  Granted, most people will say that you're gimping your barbarian if you do that, but most people also say that monks can't deal damage, and they're wrong.

4) My warforged barbarian soloed nearly all of the harbor through elite, with the exception being those areas where there were a large number of casters.  Barbarians do not start out mediocre.  They may get much better at higher levels, but I know that my wizard and monk had to catch up to my barbarian in usefulness.

Maybe they're mediocre at the mid levels, from 6 to 10 or something like that, but from 1-4, they are very powerful.

5) If you really think that the monk is a good class for a new player, you either haven't played one or you're playing it wrong.  Monks take a great deal of focus and hand-eye coordination in order to make use of all the skills they have available to them.  I had to change my key bindings just so that I could use some of my attacks in combat.

There are several reasons I suggest a barbarian to a new player.  Most of that is that they are fun.  I love playing my monk, but if it was my first character, I'd be overwhelmed and probably would end up screwing up my build completely, because monks are easy to screw up.  Barbarians are tough to screw up and are great fun to play.

I'm having fun with a dex ranger build. Tbh the best improvement they made was the server merge, for a game thats 100% party based it needed that boost, one final server merge should still be on the cards though.

I'd say ease of play wise most the melee classes are on par low levels. But having said that you will generally see many more bad low level barbs than fighters or paladins (not going to mention rangers because we all know there are a lot of bad rangers at low levels also).

Low AC is one reason, bad timing for rages is another. I'd say Fighter and or Paladin is probablly easiest to start, Fighters are very simple, Paladins play well but getting your stats right can be difficult for a new player. At high levels, yea pretty much Barb rules the melees (except my Rogues, somehow I always seem to be able to pull aggro from these DPS kings even with maxed subtle backstabber )

Originally posted by Valczir

1) I never said there was.  I said that my characters liked being sprayed by blood.  Just because there's no blood in the game doesn't mean there wouldn't be blood in the world.  Imagination.

2) Yes, barbarians get quite a few feats that they don't get to choose.  I was saying that barbarians are easy to play because they are harder to screw up, partly because you don't get to choose those feats.  Also, if you run into the midst of battle and just swing your sword, you'll be decently effective, so barbarians are not hard to play.  They are more difficult to turn into insane killing machines, but they're very easy to make effective.

3) Depends on the barbarian.  Some can have decent AC.  This is DDO - any class can do practically anything, if it's built right.  Barbarians are not as easy to customize, but they can be made to have a decent AC, if you build them for it.  Granted, most people will say that you're gimping your barbarian if you do that, but most people also say that monks can't deal damage, and they're wrong.

4) My warforged barbarian soloed nearly all of the harbor through elite, with the exception being those areas where there were a large number of casters.  Barbarians do not start out mediocre.  They may get much better at higher levels, but I know that my wizard and monk had to catch up to my barbarian in usefulness.

Maybe they're mediocre at the mid levels, from 6 to 10 or something like that, but from 1-4, they are very powerful.

5) If you really think that the monk is a good class for a new player, you either haven't played one or you're playing it wrong.  Monks take a great deal of focus and hand-eye coordination in order to make use of all the skills they have available to them.  I had to change my key bindings just so that I could use some of my attacks in combat.

There are several reasons I suggest a barbarian to a new player.  Most of that is that they are fun.  I love playing my monk, but if it was my first character, I'd be overwhelmed and probably would end up screwing up my build completely, because monks are easy to screw up.  Barbarians are tough to screw up and are great fun to play.

Barbarians are tough to screw up and are great fun to play.

1) Nice backpedal.

2) Barbarians' use of their feats is extremely important to their value in a team.  Feat selection is a non-issue, as the game allows feats to be swapped with a dragonshard.  Proper usage of the feats the character has, however, is what separates the good players from the mana sponges.

3) Fighters get heavy armor proficiency and tower shield mastery at level 1.  Paladins get their aura.  Rangers and rogues get their high dexterity and enhancements.  All of the previously mentioned are probably using a shield at low levels.  Monks get wisdom AC and usually a high dex bonus.  Barbarians, usually to make the best use of the abilities they get, are the ones left out in the cold.

4)  Soloing the harbor is customary for nearly everyone still playing the game.  I soloed the harbor on my halfling rogue just before Mod 7 came out, and I soloed the new 3-Barrel Cove content afterwards.  It isn't really something to brag about.

5) My monk soloed the harbor as well, and if you think that a Monk is hard to play or build - it is you who has done something incredibly wrong.  I have never had such an easy time solo-ing.  Of course I took stunning fist right off the bat, and apparently many people don't - which I find quite odd.

The big problem with barbarians, especially in the hands of a new or semi-new player, is that they can think they are doing well (getting lots of kills) when they really, really aren't.  Being a drain on your party is a good way to avoid making friends in DDO, and making friends is by far the most important quest to be accomplished as you level.

Looks like someone agrees with me

I will let them argue for me.  I am sure that there will be plenty of people chiming in as to why certain things are tougher than certain other things.

I myself have been playing ddo since feb 06 loved it over WoW ! Love the qwests ,the feel of it is more alive to me over  the way WoW felt to me but,just like everything else it does have it cons ,to me its has been the a very fun time

I played in DDO from beta up through until last year. I played a barbarian and paladin the most heavily. Barbarians, actually, can be used in many different ways. I loved playing my halfling barbarian the most. Cleave + greater cleave = YEAH BYE! I was able to get his stats very high up, as well as his armor class.

Soloed the harbor. You're powerful. Hahahahah. That's pretty standard, man. Now go solo some o the high end group quests and then you'll have something to flex your e-peen over.

I will never go back to DDO because after running every quest dozens (If not hundreds) of times, the world began to feel old and tired. Yes, there is new content, but it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

That said, I recommend this game to anyone who has not played it. Give it a chance. You will grow into it and learn why it can be so fun. I have very fond memories of this game and while I can't really deal with playing it anymore, this may be just the game you are looking for.

Oh, and the combat is great -- I love the twitch system.  The only thing I detest is that they do not have nearly enough animations. The monk stances and swings are nauseating. They are very limited. One of the *MAIN* complaints from the devs was that it would take sooo much work to do the animations. They added like 1visual move total in a year of work. Meanwhile, a dwarven sorceror's quarterstaff swinging is identical to a 7 foot tall human monk's. Lame. The graphics look extremely dated, even the SWG graphics engine that was designed in 2001 looks better.

Anyway, sorry to get in those jabs, I played it a lot -- more than any game I ever played, actually, but if you haven't played it, go nuts. You will probably enjoy it.

I will never go back to DDO because after running every quest dozens (If not hundreds) of times, the world began to feel old and tired. Yes, there is new content, but it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Yep...100% agree. Once you realized that you have run WW 50 times on every class of character, and can do it in your sleep, blindfolded, after getting drunk. You realize to put the game away.

It s a great game concept wise, the problem is that this game needs to be constantly (and I mean monthly) updated with new modules, and it just doesn't happen. You could deactivate your account after finishing a module, and reopen it when a new one comes out, and you wont miss a thing. Its sad, because this game is way better than WOW or AOC was.